In Defence of Sokka’s Master

After watching Nostalgia Critic’s Top 11 Worst Avatar Episodes for the second or third time, I’ve noticed an entry I believe shouldn’t be on that list, or at least, not as high as it was. Though I agree with most of the entries of the list, the season 3 episode, Sokka’s Master, never seemed as out of place as the Nostalgia Critic makes it sound.

I won’t go into great detail since you could just go onto YouTube and watch his video yourself to hear all his points, but the basic argument that the Nostalgia Critic makes is that the episode doesn’t need to exist and Sokka never even needed the change. However, I’d like to challenge his points.

First, I should go over who Sokka is as a character for all of you who don’t know or didn’t pay attention. Sokka is the older brother of Katara. In seasons 1 and 2 he’s relied on his boomerang and club, both of which are Water Tribe weapons, to defeat his enemies. When he wasn’t throwing his boomerang, he’s the one in the group who, not only keeps the mood light and comedic but also is the one who makes the plans and keeps everyone on schedule. However, in the first episode of season 3, Sokka explains that the new plan is to hide in the Fire Nation while his father rounds up all their friends and allies around the world to prepare for the invasion on the day of the solar eclipse.

Let’s think about this seriously for a second. If Sokka continued using his boomerang and club, his true nationality would be revealed and he’d be discovered as a Water Tribe citizen and would’ve been the one to blow everyone’s cover. Therefore, he only uses his club when there are no native Fire Nation citizens to see, such as around the camps the group sets up. Because of this, Sokka is without a weapon he could use without caution of who’s watching. With Sokka’s Master, he gains a weapon that is, not only unique of all swords, being made of a meteorite, but it’s also decorated with a Fire Nation decorated hilt. This is a weapon he could use in and out of the Fire Nation, disguised as a Fire Nation native or showing his true Wolf Warrior Heritage (besides, even when he uses a Fire Nation sword while dressed in Water Tribe armor, I’m willing to bet all of his enemies and opponents only see a blur of the black blade and probably wouldn’t even get a good visual of the hilt or decorations while in a fight).

Something else is that in previous episodes, Sokka proves to not use his surroundings, at least, not take his surroundings in as much consideration as he should. In fact, if my memory serves correctly, Sokka is typically one of the last to notice details in the setting. In the episode, Sokka’s Master, Sokka learns to take note of his surroundings. At the end, he uses, not only his own sword, but also the plants, dirt, and walls to use to his advantage against his master during the duel.

That’s really all I can think of. Honestly, Sokka’s Master was one of my favorite episodes (though that might be because my brother and I were anxiously waiting for season 3 and excited for the eclipse episode, therefore all the episodes leading up to that point would automatically be some of the best/favorites).

What do you all think? Was Sokka’s Master a pointless episode, or are you like me and really liked it or found it necessary? Let me know in the comments below and have a beautiful reast of your day~!